Her Secret, His Child: A Little Secret by Tara Quinn (rosie project .txt) 📕

year when you got pregnant—" She broke off, her eyes wide. "Oh, no…"

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

Nodding, Jamie smiled sadly. "I was working the night she was conceived…"

"Oh, God."

She nodded, fresh tears brimming in her eyes, though she wouldn't let them fall. Not again.

"But Kyle—"

"Karen, the truth is, we met at a party of Tom Webber's and I was there to work. But what happened with Kyle was… different. We talked, we really connected and we…made love. It seemed so natural and wonderful—and it was the first time for me."

"Does he know?" Karen whispered. "I mean, does he know what you did for a living?"

"Not yet, but I'm going to tell him." Jamie watched the ramifications dawn in Karen's eyes. And saw the sadness—the worry—that followed.

Kyle stopped by his favorite take-out place and bought them all teriyaki chicken and rice for dinner. Jamie had invited Karen and Kayla to join them; at Karen's suggestion they'd decided to meet at the Smith house. Karen was upstairs reading the girls a story when he arrived, laden with fragrant bags. He always looked great to Jamie, especially in his professor duds, but tonight he was like a lighthouse in a storm, calling out to her. His jeans fit his thighs as snugly as always; his jacket, a tweed, had patches on the elbows. And his hair was disheveled as though he'd been running his fingers through it all afternoon. But his eyes had warm lights in them when he smiled at her.

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

Jamie reached up and kissed him hello while he still had his hands full of bags. After tonight, she might never have another chance.

Gentleman that he was, he calmly kissed her back, as though her greeting had been a perfectly natural and everyday occurrence rather than the minor miracle it was. He then set the bags on the kitchen table and started divvying up dinner.

Although the girls were overtired, they were full of tales from their day at the zoo and kept the three adults entertained right up until dessert.

Which consisted of peanut butter, bread and jelly. Kyle had forgotten dessert, but he'd brought the sandwich makings in case either of the girls didn't like teriyaki chicken.

"This is lunch, not dessert, huh, Mommy?" Ashley said, turning up her nose at the offering.

"Usually it is, sweetie, but if Daddy says it's dessert, then tonight it's dessert."

"What's dessert about peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches, Daddy?"

"The jelly," Kyle said. "It's pure sugar."

' 'Then can I just have jelly and bread and no peanut butter?" Kayla asked, grabbing for a slice of bread from the bag Kyle had produced.

"Just jelly it is." Kyle rescued the bread from Kayla's tight little fingers and spread it liberally with jelly.

"Mommy? Can my daddy spend the night?"

Kyle dropped the slice of bread, jelly-side down, on the table.

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

Karen started to cough and buried her face in her napkin.

Jamie wanted to die.

"I don't think so, honey," she told her daughter. "Tonight's a school night and you know the rule about school nights."

"But daddies don't go to school."

"No, but little girls do."

"But Miss Jamie, if Ashley's daddy doesn't ever spend the night, then you can't be marrieds and live ever after."

"Yeah, and then I can't have my baby sister," Ashley whined.

"If Ashley gets a baby sister can I have dance, too?'' Kayla turned to her mother with tears in her eyes. "I want dance like Ashley gets."

Karen stood. "I think it's time two little girls were in bed," she said, wiping the remains of Kayla's dinner off her face.

"But can I dance, Mommy, please?"

"We'll see."

Jamie reached for a cloth to wipe her own daughter's face.

"And my daddy can spend the night, too, huh, Mommy?" Ashley asked, avoiding her mother's cloth.

Abandoning the trash he'd been collecting from the table, Kyle scooped Ashley into his arms, dirty face and all. "Not tonight, sweets," he said easily. "Daddy does go to school, remember? I took you to my school, showed you my office and the classroom where I teach."

TARA TAYLOR QUINN

"Oh, yeah." Ashley was clearly disappointed. "But someday you will?" she persisted.

Kyle glanced at Jamie. "Someday, I will," he said.

Without conscious thought, Jamie sought Karen's gaze—and found what she hadn't even known she'd been seeking. Compassion. Commiseration. And courage. Tonight, as soon as Ashley was in bed, Jamie was going to tell Kyle the truth.

Beyond that, who knew?

"What's up with you and Karen?" Kyle asked, Ashley on his hip, as they crossed the yard to Jamie's house.

"Nothing. Why?" She wasn't ready. Not yet.

She told herself she had until Ashley fell asleep— and hoped the child would take a long time to close her eyes that night. Surely once Ashley got home and into her bath she'd remember a lot more stories to tell them about her day at the zoo. Jamie hadn't heard any monkey stories yet, and Ashley loved monkeys.

"What's with the look she gave you right before we left?"

"Miss Karen had a bellyache today," Ashley reported, then promptly put her thumb in her mouth.

"I know, punkin, but she's all better now."

"She's made up her mind to tell Dennis when he gets home on Friday. I offered to keep Kayla." Conscious of Ashley's ears, Jamie worded the news carefully.

"We can take the girls to see the new Disney

HER SECRET, HIS CHILD

film," Kyle suggested agreeably, automatically assuming that he'd be spending the evening with them. After tonight, he probably wouldn't be.

As much as he adored his daughter, Kyle was glad she went right down that night. Jamie had been nervous, cagey, all evening and he needed some time alone with her.

"We have to talk," she said, the minute they were alone.

Thinking positively, the memory of her kiss still tingling his lips, Kyle sprawled in the middle of her couch, inviting her to sit next to him.

She preferred to stand, with her back braced against the fireplace. If she'd had any idea how much she was turning him on in those tight cords, the sweater that outlined her breasts so clearly, he suspected she'd have climbed